Thursday, January 1, 2009

Meet Crystal Heis

Crystal Heis is originally from Xenia.She was first introduced to silk painting in college while she was studying photography. She holds a Bachelor's of Fine Arts degree from the University of Kentucky. She has been a member of Village Artisans since 1999 but currently lives in Lexington, KY where she has worked as a photographer for over eight years and is now digital

imaging specialist working for UK Libraries.

She employs a variety of silk painting/dying

techniques. Most pieces are hand-painted with dyes with the fabric stretched on a frame. Many pieces involve a technique in which salt is sprinkled on freshly painted silk. While the silk is still damp, the salt pulls the dyes toward it, andcauses the grains of salt to move across the surface of the fabric. The migration of the salt creates the unique patterning and color effects. The magical part is that no two pieces are alike. In addition, Crystal also uses techniques such as stamping, direct application, resists, and immersion dying.